Of Heroes and Monsters(Discontinued)
by Yiuceht
Summary: Eighteen years have passed since the signing of the Heaven and Earth Treaty and the end of the Third Great War. A fragile peace has returned to the lands of Remnant. Yet evil stirs. As new champions join the fray, so too shall new villians rise to meet them. And through it all, one boy struggles to find his way in an everchanging world of heroes and monsters.
1. Chapter 1

_**This world is a world of heroes and monsters**_

…

* * *

 _The wind is howling._

 _Thick blankets of snow smother a wasteland of ice and ash. The whites of winter shroud the sky, from the faint, blue tinge of the horizon to the stormy grey clouds looming over the lifeless forest below. Icicles cover long dead trees, fangs of frost hanging out from under mantles of snow. The air resembles that of a cemetery, charred black trees scattered throughout the white grounds like a field of untended grave._

 _ **The monsters are the Creatures of Grimm, terrible beings who seem to exist with the single-minded desire of bringing about the end of civilization. No one knows much about them, neither where they come from nor what drives them to destroy man and his creations.**_

 _ **But, we know one thing for sure.**_

 _ **These things are the enemy, the encroaching darkness seeking to drown this world in death and despair.**_

…

* * *

 _A bundle of rags flees through these desolate woodlands._

 _Snow and ash crunch beneath his rapid steps. His breath turns to icy mist in the frigid air. A bead of cold sweat rolls down his brow. The chilling grasp of Death quickens his pace, driving him forward even as it tempts him to rest in its tender embrace._

 _Behind him, the dead forest trembles with the sound of something crushing ice and frozen charcoal underfoot._

 _ **Yet, where there is shadow, there must also be light.**_

 _ **The brave Huntsmen and Huntresses of Remnant play this role, sacrificing life and limb in their never ending war against the Creatures of Grimm.**_

 _ **Unlike the reclusive Shinobi, loyal first and foremost to their hidden villages, these warriors of Dust, of Aura and of Steel are the defenders of this world. Each wielding their own unique Semblance, these paragons form the pillars of society, the shields against which the tides of darkness break.**_

 _ **They are the 'good' to the 'evil' of the Grimm.**_

…

* * *

 _The tremors advance. The land trembles with more force, shaking with increasing frequency as a shadow emerges from the horizon. Snow falls from blackened branches. Iced charcoal crumbles in the wake of_ _ **its**_ _approach. The bundle of rags almost trips when the ground buckles, his foot sliding on a patch of hidden ice, but he manages to recover, stumbling forward and never breaking his sprint._

 _The ground makes a sudden slope downward. Another earthquake echoes throughout the land at the shadow's approach._

 _This time, he does trip._

 _ **Every kid dreams of growing up to be one of them… a hero.**_

 _ **Even I did, once upon a time.**_

…

* * *

 _The bundle of rags tumbles downward, through frozen ash, into mounds of snow. He rolls until the white stains the entirety of his form as colorless as the snow itself, at last coming to a stop where the land once again levels out._

 _Invisible chains bind his limps. He remains frozen still as the cold saps the last vestiges of warmth from his body. It bites through cloth, piercing past flesh and bone to gnaw at the very essence of his being._

 _The howling wind whispers the song of sirens into his ears, tempting him to close his eyes and fade away into the frozen wastelands._

 _But he refuses._

 _The snow shifts and falls from his form as he rises, his hood falling back to reveal a head of wild hair, once as bright as the rays of the sun but now as colorless as the frozen wastes surrounding him._

 _Three whisker-like scars mark both his cheeks, his skin pale but not too pale, bright with the flush of exhaustion._

 _Once the same warm blue as a midsummer's sky, once bright with a child's innocents, his gaze bites colder than ice. Yet still a certain kind of fire burns in the depths of those arctic blues, a determination born not from any kind virtue or idealism but from the inhuman stubbornness of one who refuses to lay down and die like an animal._

 _The combination of his white hair and the weight of his gaze may lead a stranger to think him some kind of tiny, old man. But, a closer inspection reveals the baby fat still present along his jawline, the skin smooth and devoid of any wrinkles._

 _It is a boy, a lone child abandoned in this dead land._

 _The child claws himself back to his feet, first crawling then running once more. Even as blood turns to sludge in his veins, as the chill splinters his heart and frost coats his lungs, even as those invisible chains grow colder and heaver with every step, the boy refuses to stop moving._

 _He refuses to give up and fade away into the lifeless world surrounding him._

* * *

 _ **Unfortunately, I found out pretty quickly I wasn't good enough to be any kind of hero.**_

 _ **I was unable to use aura on the most basic level.**_

 _ **Any weapon in my hands was more of a threat to me than it was to any grimm.**_

 _ **And the only thing I could do with dust was make it blow up in my face…**_

…

* * *

 _At last, it comes into view, a light at the end of the tunnel, an escape leading out of this forest of death._

 _One last push; Gathering all of his strength, he breaks out from the tree line._

 _And finds nothing._

* * *

 _ **It wasn't a surprise.**_

 _ **No real family, friends or skills or talents to speak of, I was the kind of person you'd only hear about because they got themselves killed trying to do something stupidly heroic.**_

 _ **As morbid as that is…**_

…

* * *

 _Dark waters dominate the horizon._

 _Churning, thrashing, a black sea extends as far as the eye can see._

 _He falls to his knees, idly watching as a clump of snow plummets off the cliff, into the crashing waves below._

 _The earth shakes one last time and a shadow falls over him._

* * *

 _ **There was a line I read in an old book or a dusty scroll somewhere.**_

" _ **That which does not change can only be broken."**_

 _ **Over the years, I have come to accept these words as fact.**_

 _ **If you think about it, it's just the way things work.**_

…

* * *

 _He turns with the draw of a rusted wheel, as if the air has turned to syrup._

 _He turns and looks up._

 _And up._

 _And up._

 _And up._

 _It towers above him, tall enough to dwarf the sky and blot out the horizon._

 _Giant fangs gleam like a cavern of blades. Claws the length of three, grown men dig into the snow._

 _Wisps of shadow flicker off its body, a demonic form concocted from the strange mixture of a fox's shape, a man's torso and the ears of a rabbit._

 _Crimson lines cover its frame, crossing and joining in tribal, circuital patterns and breaking apart again. An unearthly light emanates from the enigmatic tattoos, the same glow leering at him behind a mask blacker than a starless night._

 _Yet more than the colossal being before him, what captures his attention are those things behind it._

 _They reach into the air like gaping fissures in the sky, as if the very presence of this terrible being has torn the space itself asunder. Not one, but nine of them fan out behind the demonic titan, each with a single strip of molten crimson running down its center until even they fade into shadow._

* * *

 _ **My motto has always been, "Never give up and never back down!"**_

 _ **It's how I know someday I'll break.**_

 _ **Whether I fracture into a million pieces in an instant or grind away into dust, I know the day will surely come.**_

 _ **I just hope it isn't too much of a hassle for whoever is left picking up the pieces.**_

…

* * *

 _In front of him looms a monster of monsters._

 _Behind him waits the bottomless sea._

 _Death surrounds him and the young boy faces a choice._

* * *

 _ **I'm no hero.**_

 _ **In another place, another time, I might have been. But the me talking to you here and now can't be considered a hero, even by the loosest definition.**_

 _ **So I have no idea why anyone would care about me.**_

…

* * *

 _If he stays, death will come quick and without any suffering. It will be over in an instant._

 _However, if he jumps, if he tries to escape into the sea, there is a chance, an impossible and infinitesimally small chance his body will not break the moment he hits the water._

 _And there exists a possibility, just as nonexistent, he will somehow spontaneously learn to swim._

* * *

 _ **But… for the sake of argument.**_

…

* * *

 _A quick death, certain and painless… or the slightest chance of survival, a gamble against insurmountable odds._

* * *

 _ **If you were to write a story about me… someone like me in this world of heroes and monsters…**_

…

* * *

 _It only takes a glance at those eyes, filled with such hate and malice. It takes less than a second for him to stare into the face of death and steel his resolve._

* * *

 _ **Yeah… without a doubt, it'd definitely be a tragedy.**_

* * *

 _A roar shakes the heavens. And the child plunges into the freezing abyss below._

…

…

…

* * *

Of Heroes and Monsters

Chapter 1: Of the White-Faced, Gold-Tailed, Demon Fox.

* * *

Cold blue eyes open as a dull thud comes from above.

They blink, slow and with the lethargy of an interrupted rest. Shadows flash by as the harsh rays of the afternoon sun stabs into his retinas like a salvo of tiny daggers.

The sting of more than a few restless nights turns his tired gaze into a squinted glare as he scans his surroundings.

Another thud comes from the roof of the train car, this one also going unnoticed by the denizens of the civilian transport. Two rows of seats flank a rather spacious walkway. The seat next to him is empty, as are more than a few others seats in the train car. Of those occupying the seats, three catch his attention.

A man in a well-kempt suit sits across from him, tapping at a PDA with pointed annoyance.

A little girl sits several seats over, drawing on a napkin.

A faunus hiding two, fluffy, dog ears beneath a hood glares at the suited man and whispers something into his jacket.

More thuds appear, like rain drops falling on the roof of the train cart. However, raindrops do not land in pairs, nor do they cast humanoid shadows over the mountainside flanking the train's right side.

The train jolts. Blue eyes close. His breath slows down.

It begins with the sound of someone kicking in the door.

"Nobody move!"

Next comes screams. Shouts. Footsteps stomping down the walkway. Men and women, seven in total, all faunus, pour into the cart, all wearing near identical uniforms consisting of black clothing and grey, body armor. Plated masks cover the upper portions of their faces, the visors somewhat reminiscent of the shadowy beasts plaguing the lands of Remnant.

Maybe. Perhaps if one squints hard enough.

"Get on the ground!" a voice shouts in his ear. One of his eyes opens to find a barrel pointed at his head.

His eye closes again. Soft snores begin to escape from his lips.

A rough shove to the shoulder forces him to open his eyes again. He fixes the annoying, sleep interrupter with a squinted glare.

"Are you listening to me?!" the masked faunus yells. "I said get on the ground!"

He gives the faunus a tired blink, one of his eyes not quite closing and opening as fast as the other.

"So loud… don't you know it's rude to be making so much noise in the morning?"

The faunus gapes. Another masked faunus, this one wielding a katana and dressed in the exact same manner, comes to the aid of his comrade.

"Hey, what's going on new guy? What's the hold up?"

"T-this guy…"

Another tired blink. "Wait a second… that tacky outfit and those stupid-looking, bug-eyed masks… you guys are the White Fang!"

Both masked faunus share a glance and find themselves agreeing with that description, much to their chagrin.

Dressed in an orange hoodie and faded jeans, the fifteen year old Naruto Uzumaki rises from his seat. His dark blue eyes shift between the two disgruntled faunus, then to the happenings around him and back to the katana-wielding faunus.

"So, I'm guessing you're supposed to be some kind of bear faunus," Naruto says with a glance at the furry, round ears poking out from the faunus's hood. "But what the hell are you supposed to be?"

"… That's not important-"

"You're something stupid like a donkey, aren't you?"

"It doesn't matter!" the donkey faunus roars, indignation and shame coloring his cheeks. "Just get on the ground and put your hands behind your head before I blow your face off!"

Naruto blinks. He turns to the bear faunus. "Are you guys… trying to mug me?"

"… Are you just now realizing this?"

"Well you're doing a pretty crappy job at it," Naruto yawns, rubbing his eyes. "You guys are both doing a couple things wrong."

"First, the way you're holding that katana isn't right, the balance is all messed up. You put your hand here, like this."

"Uh…" the bear faunus watches with a sense of surrealism as Naruto fixes his grip. "Thanks?"

"And you forgot to turn the safety off," Naruto points out to the donkey faunus. "Here, let me get that for you."

Naruto places his hand on the gun. A sharp crack fills the air and the barrel splits clean in two.

"Wha-"

"Oh yeah, by the way, your second mistake was that you tried to mug the monster."

The broken gun barrel smashes the donkey faunus in the face. His mask shatters, his nose breaks and his aura flickers out as the White Fang grunt falls to the floor.

"Why you-!"

Enraged, the second White Fang grunt swings his katana.

Naruto catches a swing between two fingers, pinning the blade between his index and middle fingers. He drops the broken barrel, wraps a hand around the bear faunus's throat and _squeezes._

"I've never really thought about it," Naruto muses. "Would someone's aura stop them from suffocating? I've never really had a chance to test it out myself, not that I'd ever want to anyway. So help me find out, will you?"

A slight gurgle escapes the White Fang grunt's lips as his aura does its best to stop his neck from snapping like a twig. The other White Fang troops take aim but pause when Naruto holds up his new faunus, meat shield.

The slight opening is all he needs. Wind and aura the color of flame swirl in his palm, shaping into a sphere. Aura forms the outside shell while compressing winds form a black void at the core. A flick of his wrist sends the yellow and black orb curving through the air, towards the group of faunus at the front of the train car, engulfing them in a violent blast of wind.

The body in his hands goes limp. Naruto looks down. "Huh, guess it doesn't."

Gunshots crack through the air and he drops the unconscious faunus, dodging through the barrage of dust bullets. Three more White Fang grunts wait for him at the back end of the train car, two wielding melee weapons, a curved sword and another katana, while the third shoots at him with a gun.

He rushes forward with a pulse of air.

A flip carries him over the group of faunus. A sandaled foot stomps in the face of the gun-wielding faunus, shattering his mask. When Naruto lands between the two blade-wielding faunus, they both swing at him at the same time. He ducks, locks their blades against one another and sweeps the legs of the sword-wielder.

Three punches to the mouth, throat and stomach and the katana-wielder goes down. A swift kick to the jaw sends the sword-wielder into blissful unconsciousness and Naruto turns his gaze back to the passengers.

The dog-eared faunus trembles as chilling blue eye fall on him.

He reaches for the receiver in his jacket, trying to contact the lieutenant, to send a warning to his brothers and sisters in arms, but a hand seizes his wrist.

"Hey there, mind if I ask you a question?"

Naruto rips him from his seat and drags him to the back of the train. The faunus kicks and struggles, but Naruto maintains his stone-like grip.

Beneath the train, over the train tracks, looms a good ten-kilometer drop to the forests below, one that Naruto allows his captive to get a _very_ good look at.

"So, I'm looking for a guy, kinda big, built like a bear," Naruto says as he holds the plain-clothed White Fang grunt from over the rails.

"Hmm, what's his name again? Ah, geez, I've never been good with names…"

"Guh-ack! L-let me go!"

"For your sake, I'm going ignore that request."

The train turns a bend and the faunus whimpers as the train's momentum threatens to throw him into the open air.

"I'll do anything! Please, I'll tell you whatever you want, just pull me back in!"

Naruto smiles.

He throws the faunus into the floor. The dog-eared man tries to run, to crawl away, but a sandaled foot falls on his spine.

"That's one thing that's always annoyed me about you guys," Naruto admits, his eyes flashing red in the afternoon light. "You are all so willing, so _eager_ to kill other people for the sake of your 'cause', but the second your own lives are in danger, you turn tail."

"But, I guess that's why they always send one of the _real_ members to oversee your operations."

He kneels down, grabbing a fistful of hair and yanking the faunus's dog ears up to his lips. "And that is who I'm looking for. Now little doggy, why don't you tell me where your master is?"

"H-heh."

A choked laugh comes from the disguised White Fang grunt.

"You think you're strong just because you beat a couple of foot solders up?" he jeers. "Well, you're not! You're nothing! Once the Lieutenant takes control of this train-"

"Oh, so he is here! Great!"

The White Fang grunt gaps as Naruto steps off him with a cheerful hop. "I was worried I had got on the wrong train or that the operation would be called off or some other stupid thing or another would happen for some stupid reason."

"W-wha-?"

"You see, your boss and your boss's bosses have pissed off a lot of people," Naruto explains, crouching down to look the faunus in the eye. "A-LOT of people, people in high places, people who know people who know people like _me._ "

"Those people, they couldn't care less about rank and file like you. They know there's plenty more where you come from. But they're offering a pretty penny for anyone who can really hit the White Fang where it _hurts_."

The White Fang grunt blanches. He stares with incredulity at Naruto, at the young boy maybe half his age. "A-are you a bounty hunter? Who are you?"

A grin stretches over his whiskered cheeks.

"Oh, I guess you just don't recognize me without the mask."

Yellow aura coalesces over his face. Thin, shadowy tendrils emerge from the depths of the gold. The dense, opaque aura spreads to covers the entirety of his face, the inky black lines slithering through the light.

Then the glow recedes. The yellow fades to reveal a pale, bone white mask. The black dulls to crimson, marks forming into the likeness of a fox. On its brow six, concentric circles rest like a third, rippled eye and two chips of ice peer through slit thin eyeholes.

The faunus goes sheet white, all bravado and confidence deserting him.

"Y-y-y-y-y-you-"

"Recognize me now?"

Naruto watches as the dog-eared man throws himself out the back of the train.

"… Now, that's just overly dramatic," Naruto deadpans. He turns back into the train car, to the terrified passengers and to the unconscious White Fang fodder.

A finger points at the well-dressed man.

"You, suit guy."

"Suit guy? How rude! My name is-!"

"Yeah, don't bother, I'm not going to remember your name anyway," interrupts Naruto with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Is there anything too dangerous hidden on this train? Like a dust cargo or some, secret weapon hidden further up?"

"The only dangerous _thing_ on this train is _you_ ," the man sneers with the calm cool of a business executive trying to deflect the blame.

"Am I going to have to give you the same treatment as Mr. Doggy?"

The man sniffs at him. "Your tactless intimidation and threats may work on riffraff like the faunus, but I assure you, they will not work on a civilized gentleman such as myself."

Naruto stares.

-A few moments later-

"AHHHHH-"

Naruto watches the suited man scream as he dangles him over the side of his train by the ankle.

"Tell me what I want to know and I'll pull you back up. But you better hurry. I think I feel my fingers slipping~."

"It's an armor!" the man yelps when Naruto begins to pull back his fingers. "A prototype, suit of armor developed by the Schnee Dust Company, powered by the purest, most refined dust crystals in the world!"

Unceremoniously dumped on the train floor, the suited man breathes out a sigh of relief. One perhaps a bit too premature, however, as his brief rest ends all too soon when Naruto pins him with a questioning stare and a chill runs down his spine.

"A suit of super armor? Where'd you guys get the idea for something like that?"

The man gulps. After a moment, he answers with great hesitation.

"It… It was designed based off of the Version Two, Jinchuuriki Cloak."

"Ah."

Naruto's silent gaze becomes painful for the suited man as those chips of ice bore into him.

"… Whether or not the White Fang have gotten to it, I'm destroying that suit," Naruto declares at last.

The suited man can only drop his chin in shame as Naruto turns to leave. Before he enters the train car again, he pauses.

"It's a slippery slope. First you try to make weapons based off them, then before you know it, you'll be trying to make one yourself. That's why… if you value your humanity at all, don't try to create anything like a Jinchuuriki."

Naruto returns to the train car in a much more somber mood. Fearful stares follow his every step, hushed whispers and harsh words filling the air around him.

Yet he pays it no mind. By now, he is already used to it. He has come to expect it.

The mission has changed. More than retrieving his bounty, the destruction of that armor has top priority. While he has nothing to fear from someone like the White Fang Lieutenant obtaining such a weapon, there are far more troublesome individuals within the White Fang's ranks he _will_ have to worry about if they get their hands on it.

Naruto makes a sound in his mind, the rough, mental equivalent of a sigh. Another day, another train wreck of a mission going full FUBAR.

A tug on his pants pulls him out of his thoughts. He stops and looks down to find the little girl from earlier looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Where are you going?" she asks.

"A bunch of stupid people have done some really stupid things so now I have to go and fix everything they screwed up."

The little girl's eyes sparkle.

"Are you some kind of hero?"

For a second, Naruto wonders if he forgot to put on his mask. Then he laughs a kind of hollow laugh, devoid of any real joy or mirth.

"Silly girl, this isn't some legend or fairy tale. Heroes don't exist here."

The door closes behind him with a rusty squeak. He steps onto the platforms connecting the train cars, the mountain face and crimson sky speeding past him. Wheels screech against the tracks. Rushing winds ruffles his mop of ashen hair. His eyes drift from the forests below to the red dawn on the horizon as his eyes flicker with the shadow of burning gold.

"Should have brought my work clothes…" Naruto grumbles as he pulls up his hood.

"Ah, well. I'll go with what I have."

Closing his eyes, he returns to that scene of frozen wastes from his dreams. Whether he has reverted to his child-like appearance or kept his teenage stature, he does not know, nor does he care. Within the phantasmal dreamland, he makes the trek to a place somewhere between dreams and reality.

There he finds it. Set in a bed of ice and ash and cinder and charcoal, a strange thing makes its home in this world of white and grey.

It is a staff: a black, coiled staff, wreathed in ethereal flame.

He approaches the ever burning cinder. Yet he does not try to draw the stave, nor does he try to remove it from its resting place. Instead, he kneels, presenting his hand as if to offer himself to the otherworldly flame.

It does not start from his hand but from his stomach. A familiar burning surges through his body. Shadows encroach on the edge of his senses as his semblance rears its ugly head, but the brilliance of the flame soon washes them away. Strength fills him as the light of his soul reinforces his body. Aura floods his veins, manifesting in a golden glow suffusing his body and a singular tail of golden light extending from his tailbone.

Eyes now the color of smoldering gold open again to find mere seconds have passed in the real world. It does not surprise him. Time has always passed strangely in the place he has come to call a mindscape.

"I don't get paid enough for this," Naruto sighs.

Wind dust flows into his tail, and he molds it into a sleeker, more blade-like appearance. It becomes less a tail and more a kind of flexible sword, hard like steel yet fluid like water.

A single swipe slices open the door to the next car. Five sets of eyes turn on him, a small squad of masked faunus occupying the walkway, standing between him and the next car. All armed, all holding those arms like complete amateurs.

Surging aura and bursting wind rockets him into the White Fang squadron before they can react. A first to the gut launches the first grunt across the car. A sweep of his tail embeds the second into the ceiling. The third recovers his senses fast enough to aim his gun, but not fast enough to pull the trigger as flash of gold slices his weapon in two.

A sandaled foot to the face sends him to the ground with a smashed mask and a broken nose.

It happens in an instant. In mere seconds, Naruto decimates over half of the White Fang squad. A single look at the forms of their fallen comrades sends the two remaining White Fang grunts running. They turn tail and flee, only to find the Demon Fox already waiting for them at the end of the walkway.

Naruto rips through the subsequent train cars with the same ease. He carves a warpath through the White Fang's ranks to the front of the train where he finds a windowless passenger car labeled 'VIP'.

He takes a moment to inspect the ruined door. A deep gouge runs along its hinges, the grooves and tears in the metal reminiscent of the teeth of a chainsaw.

"Yep, that guy's definitely here," Naruto concludes. A light kick sends the door crashing down and light pours into the train car.

He steps through the doorway, eyes shifting from side to side in the darkness. Through the heavy shadows, he can make out the shapes of the weapons lining the walls and the reinforced crates of dust stacked against the walls. Each weapon and each box carries a familiar logo in the form of a snowflake.

"The Schnee Dust Company…" his gaze drifts from the boxes to the various weaponry hanging above, all of which he _knows_ can turn into some kind of gun. "Since when did they start manufacturing weapons?"

A surge of killing intent comes from the shadows. The screech of a chainsaw follows and Naruto ducks under a slash of whirling teeth, flipping away as a hulking giant emerges from the darkness.

"I've been waiting for this day a long time, **Demon Fox**!"

His entire body ripples with rock-like slabs of muscles. Trunk-like arms carries a weaponized chainsaw as if it weighted no more than a feather. With thundering steps, the monstrous form of the White Fang Lieutenant stomps forth, beady black eyes glaring at Naruto from behind the custom, full-face, grimm mask denoting him as far more than a common foot solider.

Naruto tilts his head, his questioning look hidden by his own mask.

"… Have we met before? Who are you?"

The White Fang Lieutenant twitches, maybe from indignation, maybe from mind-numbing rage. Or both.

"It was a mistake for Adam to think some _human_ could ever hope to understand our cause," the Lieutenant growls. "Two years ago you betrayed us and saved the Schnee… for two years, you've owed the White Fang a debt and today it's going to get paid in blood!"

The giant faunus charges him, bringing his modified chainsaw down in an overhead swing. A flash of gold meets the swing and the chainsaw sputters and creaks as it fails to chew through the tail of yellow aura.

"In my defense I _did_ fulfill my end of the deal…" Naruto protests as he parries another two swings from the Lieutenant.

He rolls under a grab, slashing the back of the Lieutenant's thigh with his tail. Blood spurts from the wound as the wind-enhanced, aura edge slices through the faunus's own aura, cutting deep into flesh.

The Lieutenant roars in fury, swinging his modified chainsaw with reckless abandonment. Naruto weaves through the onslaught of powerful but clumsy swings, landing small hits all the while. Blood flows from Lieutenant's upper arms, thighs, neck, collarbone, stomach, and ribs, a multitude of cuts littering the giant faunus.

Step siding an awkward swing wracked with pain and exhaustion, Naruto slashes at the Lieutenant's face. The faunus's aura and mask manage to save his eye at the cost of allowing the blade-like tail to carve a deep gash through his brow.

"Gah!"

The White Fang Lieutenant falls to a knee as crimson coats his face and the inside of his mask. Flicking the blood from his tail, Naruto looks down at the fallen faunus.

"I said I'd bring her to you," Naruto explains in a calm and cool voice, not winded in the slightest. "I never said anything about what I'd do after that."

"Betrayed? There's no need to be so dramatic. I was never on your side to begin with."

"Lieutenant!"

A spray of dust rounds comes from the shadows. Naruto's tail returns to its original shape and deflects the shots. The White Fang Lieutenant takes advantage of the momentary distraction to scampers into the shadows under the cover of the White Fang grunts' fire.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto says, bringing his hands together. A yellow and black aura sphere forms between his palms, one that balloons from the size of an apple to the size of a basketball.

He hurls it at the faunus hiding in the darkness. It explodes with a thunderous roar, igniting the crates of dust and consuming the entire train car in a great ball of flame. The whole train comes to a grinding halt and Naruto lands on the roof of the trailing, train car, somewhat singed but otherwise unharmed.

"Right. Those crates were full of dust. Highly unstable, explosive dust. Forgot about that."

Naruto scratches his head, staring into the rising pillar of smoke. "Ah man, I hope the body didn't get blasted to bits. Maybe they'll just take my word that I offed the guy…"

The hum of electricity fills the air.

A giant blur of white shoots out of the smoke as if fired from a railgun. An armored fist slams into his stomach with such force that it might have gone straight through him were his body not reinforced by aura. He soars into the air, flies over the length of the train, and crashes into the train tracks.

All but embedded into the train tracks, Naruto groans, a smoking hole through the center of his hoodie.

"Ow."

Pushing up his mask, he spits out a glob of blood. A shadow falls over him and Naruto leaps to his feet, leaping back as the shadow falls with the crack of thunder, blowing a hole through the train tracks.

"So he didn't get blasted to bits," Naruto grunts, pulling his mask back down. "Not sure whether I'm relieved that I'll be able to get my bounty or pissed that this is job just got a lot harder."

An armored titan emerges from the dust.

Sleek, polished steel covers the titan's entire form, the curves and edges reminiscent of some kind of medieval knight. Bright blue wires run from a pure white, dust crystal set on its midsection to the gauntlets, to the greaves and to the ox-horned helmet where beady, black eyes glare at him through a v-shaped visor.

The dust crystal glows brighter, pouring crackling electricity into the mechanical armor. The White Fang Lieutenant surges forward with new speed belying his giant size, drawing back a steel fist pulsating with energy.

Naruto jumps to the side, onto the mountain face. His sandaled feet slam and stick against the rocks. A hop and a burst of air send him shooting upward as the White Fang Lieutenant barrels into the cliff side, smashing a new cavern into the mountain face.

The bolt of white lightning streaks at him again, crackling electricity surrounding the armored faunus's form. Naruto clicks his tongue. He returns to that place, drawing deeper from the flame. Pins and needles cover every inch of his skin as the glow of aura surrounding him intensifies, ghost-like tongues of flame spouting from his skin and clothes.

The white drains from his sclera. A second tail emerges from behind him, crossing with the first to intercept the White Fang Lieutenant's attack. Wind and lightning clash against one another, erupting into the sky. Naruto retreats further up the mountain. The armored Lieutenant follows with thundering speed. Yellow flame and white lightning streak across the mountain side, summoning shockwaves and spraying pieces of rock into the air each time they meet.

The world dissolves into a chorus of flashes and explosions.

All Naruto can see are the sparks of lightning left in the White Fang Lieutenant's wake. All he hears are the boom and crack of thunder. His eyes and ears fail him. Guesswork and pure instinct drive his movements as he trades blows with the armored faunus.

He should have just killed the giant bastard when he had the chance.

Now that accursed armor allows the faunus to punch harder than him and move faster than him and protects against his attacks. If he pushes his body too much harder to try to keep up, it will be annoying for him in the future.

At this rate, he will be in serious trouble. Yet, Naruto feels no fear.

People who can breathe life into forests and spit oceans, human-shaped monsters whose punches crush mountains, whose kicks part seas and whose semblances could be mistaken as natural disasters; the kinds of living legends who've even cleaved bolts of lightning in two, _real_ lightning, not the piddly, kid lightning fueling the White Fang Lieutenant's armor.

He has fought those kinds of people. He has survived against those kinds of people.

He has _killed_ those kinds of people.

Compared to them, this _fake_ , this pretender clad in a lie, is _nothing._

Their battle reaches the top of the cliff side, pelting the train below in gravel all the while. Aura clashes against steel. Wind howls. Thunder booms. Those pins and needles begin to burn white hot as more and more aura surges through Naruto's body, a third tail emerging from behind him.

Thin strips of shadow take shape at the center of each of his tails. Their forms become more solid, more physical. Strikes that once glanced off the polished steel now leave growing scratches and dents on the armor. He accelerates, not quite matching the armored Lieutenant in speed but moving fast enough to begin to counterattack.

Ducking under a punch, Naruto's tails sharpen with wind. They form into a trio of blades, slashing the White Fang Lieutenant across the chest, carving three claw marks into the steel. He flips over a grab, slicing off a horn from the helmet.

The Lieutenant channels his growing frustration into a thunderous roar. The dust crystal at his stomach glows bright. Grasping tendrils of electricity arc off his armor, forcing Naruto back as the discharge chars the ground around him black.

A grunt of pain escapes his throat as Naruto lands hard on his left leg, his right leg along with most of his body already numb from a combination of the Lieutenant's lightning and the inability of his body to handle the power of his own aura.

His eyes go wide as the Lieutenant barrels into him with the force of a truck, goring him through his left lung.

"Gah!"

The world flashes white and red. Sheer force of will keeps Naruto conscious through the pain radiating from the piece of electrified metal shoved between his ribs. Wind flows into his hand, forming a blade of swirling air around his fingers. He slices the horn from the Lieutenant's helmet, freeing himself. His foot comes down on the Lieutenant's shoulder and his tails follow, slamming the Lieutenant into the ground while catapulting Naruto through the air.

He crash lands in a heap of limbs. A shaking hand grips the steel horn stuck in his body and rips it out.

"First I was shot at," Naruto groans as he grabs the hole in his side and forces himself to stand. "Now I've been electrocuted and stabbed."

"It's kind of depressing how I'm not even surprised anymore…"

" **Heheheh… HAHAHAHA!"**

Naruto looks up as the Lieutenant's warped voice bellows out from the metallic monstrosity before him.

" **YES! This speed! This strength! This** _ **power**_ **is what will liberate the faunus from the cruel reign of you pathetic humans!"**

The white knight spreads its arms, electricity flickering from its fingertips.

" **How ironic, how very ironic that the sins of you humans would birth the instrument of your undoing!"**

"The hell are you yammering about now," Naruto grunts.

The Lieutenant pauses to look at him, lowering his arms with his palms still spread.

" **You don't know… no, obviously you wouldn't. What would a snot nosed brat like you know about** _ **them**_ **?"**

"You'd be surprised…"

Naruto's mutter goes unheard as the Lieutenant continues to talk. **"Consider this lesson your last rites. I'll tell you what you humans for years have tried so hard to forget so you can go to the grave cursing your ancestors."**

" **Thousands of years ago, nine grimm were born on the Elemental Isles. These grimm weren't your average grimm. They were stronger, faster,** _ **smarter,**_ **than all of their brethren. Even as the Elemental Nations rose and the Warring Clans Era ended, these grimm survived, waiting for the day when they would strike as one and wipe humanity off the face of Remnant forever."**

" **These grimm were given the name '** _ **Bijuu'**_ **, a word meaning '** _ **Tailed Beasts'**_ **in the old language of the Elementals. Each of these Bijuu's strength corresponded to the number of tails they bore, the One-Tail being the weakest and the Nine-Tails being the strongest."**

" **The humans lived in fear of these grimm, the Bijuu. A whole nation fell to the One-Tail in a single night and the Nine-Tails was said to have been able to level mountains and create tornados with a single swipe of its tails."**

" **Even with their dust, their semblances and weapons, there was no way for the humans to fight against such monsters. So they came up with a ritual, a vile, depraved and repulsive method of imprisoning these grimm."**

The Lieutenant clenches his fists, lightning cracking along his armor.

" **They sealed them inside women and children, forcing those who couldn't fight to bear the burden of housing a living grimm! Worse yet, these human sacrifices were not praised as heroes or saviors! They were given the name '** _ **Jinchuuriki'**_ **and treated worse than dogs, as if they were the very monsters they imprisoned!"**

"Heh…"

The Lieutenant slams a gauntleted hand against his chest, a motion which creates a sound not unlike the clap of thunder.

" **This very armor was based off the current Jinchuuriki of the Eight-Tails, the second most powerful of the Bijuu! That it would fall into my hands, the hands of a faunus, is further proof I was meant to use this to free these lands from the vile clutches of the humans! It is justice! It is-"**

Naruto laughs.

"Gahahahaha- gak, my wound, hehehe, hahahahaha, I-I can't stop! Hahahahaha-!"

The Lieutenant stares, dumbfounded. Naruto laughs long and hard, clutching his stomach. He laughs until he can laugh no more, reaching under his mask to wipe away a tear.

"Oh man, it's disgusting. I don't want to laugh but hearing you spout off like you know anything is just too funny. And it's disgusting. It's so disgusting it makes me want to throw up. How can you even live with yourself, being so _nauseating_ like that?"

" **Why you-"**

"Talking like that, like you know anything about the Jinchuuriki when you're nothing but a fake."

The Lieutenant freezes as the air trembles.

"It's so damn disgusting," Naruto says, tearing off the tattered remains of his hoodie.

Two things catch and hold the White Fang Lieutenant's attention like a vice.

"I hate it when people lie to themselves. I really do. And I hate it even more when they do it out of some stupid sense of self-rightlessness."

The first rests on the center of Naruto's well-muscled chest, a pale, starburst scar positioned directly over his heart. It appears at first glance as if he was dealt some vicious wound as a young child, perhaps even at birth, only for time and growth to reduce what should have been a terrible scar to a mere discoloration of the skin.

"You White Fang assholes act like what you're doing is for the betterment of all faunus. You act like victims when all you're doing is taking advantage of the faunus' hate and bitterness to drag them into your war. You've hurt innocent people, burned everyone else's bridges and painted the hands of your entire race in red, all while having the audacity to talk about _justice._ "

The second lays just below the first.

"And that, _really_ pisses me off."

A menacing, crimson glow emanates from behind an ink spiral, painted onto Naruto's stomach. Eight pillars enclose the central spiral, four seals forming the upper arc and four seals forming the lower arc.

"You seem pretty proud of that armor of yours. Even if it's just a shitty fake."

His skin pales. The ink appears almost to bleed. Black oozes from the seal and reaches upward. Crimson energy and liquid shadow swirl around Naruto as his skin begins to peel and flake off, revealing a layer of pulsating scarlet.

"So, why don't I show you…"

The black crawls up his throat, onto his face, staining the entirety of his mask jet-black. From the depths of the shadow, the marks on his mask glow crimson. Gold eyes bleed red as their pupils melt into demonic slits.

A fourth tail emerges from behind him, this one forged of blood and shadow.

"… just what th **e real thing can do."**

* * *

"What's with the bandages? You trying to cosplay Copy Cat Kakashi or something?"

"Go fuck yourself Junior."

Eight, giant speakers blast out a bouncy, repetitive beat in stereo. Stage lights dance as the patrons and partygoers take to the dance floor at the center of the nightclub, chugging alcohol and spewing cheesy pick-up lines.

A white, long-sleeved haori and a black, long sleeved shirt replaces his orange hoodie. Black pants, taped off at the ankles, replace his jeans. Instead of sandals, black combat boots cover his feet, fingerless, black leather gloves covering his hands.

Last but not least, a mummy-like covering of bandages replaces Naruto's mask, a single blue eye peeking out from behind the layer of dressings.

"I take it your last excursion didn't go quite as planned," Junior Xiong, a hulking bear of a man, says as he wipes down a cup behind the counter. The information broker's words carry a tone of familiarity, as if he already knows how Naruto will respond.

Said response consists of grabbing the remote and switching the channel on one of the flat screens behind the counter.

" _-When the White-Faced, Gold-Tailed, Demon Fox attacked a civilian transport train, coming into conflict with the White Fang. While there were no civilian casualties-"_

Junior perks a brow as the screen shows two pictures, one of a forest with the face of a mountain looming over it.

The second picture is much the same, minus the mountain.

"What happened? I can't imagine the White Fang giving you any trouble if you were to get serious."

"Short story, I got my bounty."

"Well, come out back and I'll-"

"Long story," Naruto interrupts, fiddling with his bandages. "I got my bounty and two, pretty interesting pieces of information."

Junior locks gazes Naruto's single, visible eye. "How much?"

"Five."

"Two."

"Four."

"Two and I'll warn you before Melanie and Miltia sneak up on you."

"Deal."

Naruto perks a brow as Junior makes a face, looking at something behind him. A shiver crawls down his spine as pale arms reach over his shoulders and a pair of shapely breasts press against his back.

" _Naruto,_ " a breathy voice whispers into his ear. "It's been _so long_ since we've seen each other… you don't call, you don't write… I'm starting to think you've been avoiding me."

"You'd be right," Naruto replies with a dry tone. He directs a one eyed glare at Junior. " _Four."_

"Four," Junior agrees with a sigh.

Naruto closes his eyes to address the owner of the breasts. "Considering I burned off the entire, top layer of my skin less than 24 hours ago, I'd really appreciate it if you'd get your boobs off my back."

"Rude."

Pale arms release him. He turns in his seat to face two girls, one red, one white, both with the same soft, alabaster skin, the same emerald eyes and the same silken, black hair. However, the similarities end there.

One stands proud and haughty, the other shy and demure. The girl in white wears a set of bladed heels, a white flower hanging from her long, black hair. The girl in red wears a set of claws, a pair of red and white feather decorating her shorter tresses.

Naruto looks to the white sister, Melanie Malachite.

"Miltia."

He looks to the red sister, Miltiades Malachite.

"Melanie."

Then he ducks as a bladed heel swipes at his head.

"Every time! How do you manage to get it wrong every. Single. Time?!" Melanie rages. "She's Miltia! I'm Melanie!"

"Ah, right. Sorry about that, Minilie."

"He's obviously doing it on purpose to annoy us," Miltiades says taking the seat next to Naruto.

"Aw, Milina, you know me so well~."

Naruto ducks again as a claw slashes at his neck.

Melanie glares at Naruto as she takes the seat on his other side. "Would it kill you to try and get our names right for once?"

"Hey, in my defense, your names are hard to remember," Naruto protests. "Back me up here, Junior."

"Please don't drag me into this…"

"Waaait a second!" Melanie gives Naruto a look. "How come you call Junior by his name instead of giving him a stupid nickname like you do everyone else?"

Naruto pauses for a moment. He turns to look at Junior, then back to Melanie. "I mean… his name's already Junior. Don't you kinda feel bad for the guy?"

"I hate you so much."

A slight chuckle escapes Melanie's lips, one she hides with a quick huff. "You're a really unpleasant guy, you know that?"

"You sisters are the ones trying to beat up on an injured person."

"Why do you look like a mummy, anyway?" Miltiades asks.

"Like I said," Naruto shrugs. "Burnt off the entire top layer of my skin."

"Wait, you were serious?" Melanie wrinkles her nose. "Gross."

A touch of concern enters Miltiades's expression. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Erm, yeah, I'm… fine," Naruto answers. "And I can't say what happened, that's classified. You can ask Junior later."

"You heard him Melanie, Miltia. Naruto and I have business to attend to. You both can heckle him later."

Miltiades departs with a polite nod. "Bye Naruto. Try and get some rest, okay?"

Melanie makes to leave but stops to send one last glare Naruto's way.

"Take care of yourself better, annoying idiot. If you die without getting our names right at least once, I'll never forgive you!"

"Hai, hai~, bye Melanie, Miltia," Naruto says, making sure to address each twin by the other's name.

Under the counter, hidden by a trick door and behind a multitude of locks, Naruto enters a musty box of a room, illuminated by a hanging light fixture. Coffin-sized metal drawers line the walls, the smell of rotting flesh and dried blood thick in the air.

"Geez, Junior, you ever clean this place?"

"I've tried. The smell doesn't come out."

One of the metal doors opens with a clang, the steel bed rattling as Junior pulls it out. Naruto takes out a scroll. He unfurls it, holding it over the steel bed.

"You might wanna look away," Naruto suggests.

A poof of smoke unseals the contents contained within the scroll. It falls with a wet splat, the mangled remains oozing, dripping, onto the floor.

"Oh- fucking hell! What did you do to him?!"

"Is this acceptable? I have the mask if you want further proof."

"No," Junior pushes the steel bed back into the wall, slamming the door closed while resisting the urge to gag. "Don't bother, I know you well enough by now. If you say it's him, then it's him. What else do you have for me?"

Junior hands Naruto a briefcase. Naruto hands Junior a scroll.

"The Schnee Dust Company is developing weapons," he explains. "The whole reason I had such a hard time putting down the Lieutenant is because he got his hands on one of their super-prototypes. The train car carrying them got blown up, but these are what I managed to salvage."

"The Schnee… they're making weapons now?"

Naruto nods, a sharp look in his eye. "The drums of war are starting to beat. Thanks to that troublesome Fifth Hokage, it's not a matter of if the first strike will happen. It's a question of whose going to throw it."

"No wonder you wanted four," Junior muses. "This is some pretty serious news. If people were to find out, the narrative of peace the Ruling Council of the Kingdoms has been trying to push would be destroyed completely."

"It's the calm before the storm. Even now, those guys are still trying to play the role of the good guys."

"I'd say that's a bit too harsh," Junior replies. "The Kingdoms and the Elemental Nations have been at each other's throat since the Fourth Hokage died almost sixteen years ago. The reason no one's done anything is because humanity can't afford another war with the threat of the grimm looming overhead."

"No one wants a repeat of the Second Great War. Or even the Third Great War. Humanity won't survive."

"Is that so…?"

"What is it?" Junior asks.

"It's just a thought…" Naruto begins, his tone slow and measured. "But, I think…"

Parts and pieces slide into place. And from the broken image, an idea begins to take form.

Between the various alliances made in the wake of the Third Great War and the events of the past sixteen years, beginning with the death of the Fourth Hokage, tensions between the Kingdoms and the Great Shinobi Nations are at an all-time high. A veritable powder keg, all it will take is a spark.

A single match. The slightest trigger and everything will all go up in flames.

Of course, there are fail safes and those working in the shadows to ensure such a fate befalls neither the Kingdoms nor the Elemental Nations.

However, they can do only so much from the shadows. Their hands are bound by the public peace and the need to maintain the fragile illusion protecting the civilians of Remnant from the grimm.

The timing. The odd movements of the White Fang. One might argue that it is a matter of simple coincidence…

But he has never been one to believe in whimsical things like coincidence. Not since that day. Never since that day.

His lone eye locks gazes with Junior.

"I think someone might be trying to start a Fourth Great War."

* * *

 _"I see… I think I understand now..."_

 _Smoldering pieces of crimson smeared steel litter the ground. Above them, the wind releases a haunting wail as it travels through the blasted remains of the mountain side._

" _I should have known… no one believed the Fourth Hokage actually killed that monster of monsters almost sixteen years ago. Now it makes sense… why Adam placed his trust in you."_

 _The White Fang Lieutenant lies in the shadow of the valley. Burns and cuts cover his bare, upper body, the armor stripped from his head and shoulders._

 _Nothing lies below his chest, an unrecognizable mess strewn about around him._

" _I wonder… can you still hear me?"_

 _A guttural growl fills his ears._

" _If so… then hear me now. You… you were right about us, Naruto Uzumaki."_

 _Four, bloody red blades swish through the air. They sizzle and spark like a bed of still-hot coals, dark shadows swimming along their forms._

" _Once we stood for something… once we fought for the future of all faunus…"_

 _A step cracks the earth. The blades pulse and morph back into their original forms._

" _But now… Adam… has lost himself… The White Fang has no choice but to obey her commands… once again… we have been reduced to slaves."_

 _A choked sob. The Lieutenant clenches his fists and sets his jaw._

" _You humans… curse you…"_

 _A scarlet claw of blood and shadow rises._

" _CURSE YOU-"_

 _Blood paints the valley red._

* * *

"That's… actually pretty scary to think about."

"Yeah," Naruto agrees. "That there might be someone out there actively trying to bring about the end of the world… and she's strong enough to keep the entirety of the White Fang under her thumb. Even Adam."

"Yeah… damn."

Junior crosses his arms. He shifts from side to side, pacing across the room. A moment passes in silence.

"What are you going to do now?" Junior asks.

"Hmmm? Well I'm trying to decide whether I should have pork or miso ramen for dinner. I had pork yesterday, so I don't really want to eat the same kind of ramen two days in a row, but I'm kinda hungry and miso just doesn't fill me up as much as it used to when I was a kid."

"… What in the fuck?"

"?"

Junior stares dumbfounded at Naruto.

"First you tell me one of the largest corporations in the world in producing dust is secretly manufacturing weapons, then you point out how the world is on the very brink of war, and then wrap everything up by explaining how there might be some lady, some _human_ lady strong enough to force _Adam Taurus_ to obey her, out there actively trying to bring about the apocalypse and your next, immediate thought is about _ramen?!_ What in the fuck is wrong with you?"

Naruto yawns.

"Well," he drawls in a tired tone. "Off the top of my head, I can think of five- wait, no, six things I care more about than some crazy chick trying to destroy the civilized world as we know it. I wonder if she's hot. That's thing number six, by the way."

Junior opens his mouth to respond. Nothing comes out. He closes his mouth again and scrunches up his brow.

"You know you're a bit of a sociopath, right?"

"I like to think I'm relatively well adjusted, all things considered," Naruto says, shrugging again. "What are you so worried about, anyway? If anything you should be happy. War means more work for people like us in the underground, right?"

"Brats who've never seen hell on the battlefield shouldn't be saying things like that," Junior says, trying to sooth a growing migraine.

"And you have?"

"How old do you think- I swear if you say something about my name I'm going to smack you."

Naruto closes his mouth and settles for a light chortle instead.

"Yes, war does get the economy going, but there's a whole other facet you're forgetting," Junior explains as the two leave the exchange room. "Huntsmen and Huntresses aren't allowed to fight in wars. So who do you think they'll be going after when the grimm get eradicated in the crossfire?"

"They aren't?! So useless!"

"There's a reason the Elemental Nations still train their Shinobi alongside their Huntsman."

They exit out from the door hidden behind the counter. Naruto takes out a scroll, a brush and a bottle of ink. Junior grabs a cup.

"I need a drink. You want one?"

"Na, I don't drink."

"Suit yourself."

His hand dances over the paper, brush painting intricate shapes and symbols onto the parchment. Junior peeks over Naruto's shoulder.

"Is that blood," Junior asks, wrinkling his nose.

"Mixed with ink, yeah. It makes the seal synchronize with my aura better."

"I wouldn't mess with that stuff if I were you," says Junior with a shudder. "Ever hear that story about that guy who ended up trapped in a sword?"

"Isn't it a bit _childish_ to be scared of some ink and paper, _Junior?_ "

"All of my hate. All of it."

"And done," Naruto says with a flourish of his brush. He touches his finger to the ink, a slight glow flowing from his skin into the paper. "Hm. I hope I made this stroke right."

"What'll happen if you didn't?" Junior asks as he makes sure to put Naruto between him and the seal.

"Ah, who knows? Maybe it'll just be a dud, may it'll suck everything a ten mile radius into an inescapable pocket dimension or maybe it'll work better than I designed it to."

"Wait what was that second one-"

"Only one way to find out!"

The seal flashes to life with golden light. It makes a hum like a hundred buzzing flies for a moment before the glow recedes and the seal falls silent.

Naruto looks to the man huddled in a ball behind him.

"It's actually impossible for a seal to malfunction that catastrophically. That was a joke."

"Fuck you. Where'd you learn that witchcraft anyway?"

"Hm, let's see. When I was younger, there was this creepy, old toad who kidnapped me but I transformed into a naked girl and seduced him into teaching me his pervy arts. Then after I learned everything I wanted to know, along with some things I'd really rather have not, I kicked his ass to the curb and ran away."

"There are so many things wrong with that story I'm not even going to try. What were those things you learned that you'd 'really rather have not'?"

"A bunch of things. Dirty things. Like, for one, I can see past combat skirts."

"What? How? They're literally designed-"

"I know. I don't really understand it either. And it gets really distracting sometimes."

Junior pauses a moment to consider Naruto's words.

"Wait, so are you telling me that whenever Melanie kicks at you-"

"Yes."

"…"

"…"

"You ever consider going to a huntsmen academy to become a certified huntsman?

"I know we needed a tangent to get away from that topic but that might be the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say to me."

"I'm serious," Junior says with a sip of his drink. He watches Naruto place the suitcase on the center of the seal. A poof of smoke and the suitcase disappears. "You're always complaining about finding work so why not get a stable job? It's not like you're not strong enough. I know you've gone toe to toe with veteran Huntsmen before. Maybe you could even pick up a conscience along the way."

"Well, there're a lot of reasons why I can't do that," Naruto says, placing the scroll in his haori. "I don't think I'll fit in, I hear they don't serve ramen at those places and I honestly think Huntsmen are kinda lame and- oh yeah!"

"I'm an _S-rank_ criminal in the Bingo Book with a _kill on sight_ order in two Kingdoms and three of the Great Villages. I'd probably get a warmer reception from the grimm than if I were to try to get into a huntsmen academy."

"You do know that fake identities are a thing, don't you?"

"Screw that. Don't wanna."

"You can be really childish sometimes, you know that?"

"Hey, even someone like me gets to be childish from time to time. Shoot me a message when you have another mission for me."

Naruto waves Junior goodbye. A pulse of aura shreds the bandages covering his form. They fall away as he walks to reveal healed and healthy skin, free of any sort of scaring aside from the three, whisker marks across both his cheeks. He runs a hand through his hair and summons his mask, an invisible weight lifting from his shoulders at the feel of the smooth, bone-like material against his skin.

 _Hm…? When did I become so used to it, I wonder…_

"Oh my, who would have thought the infamous White-Faced, Gold-Tailed, Demon Fox was such a handsome, young boy underneath that scary, scary mask? Your fans will be elated."

Naruto glances at the source of the patronizing drawl, a dapper man in a bowler hat wearing way, _way,_ too much eyeliner.

"I don't have any fans."

"You'd be surprised," the man's lips curve into a strange smile, a smile somehow both suspicious and sincere.

He extends a hand. "Roman Torchwick."

"… Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto says, shaking Roman's hand after a moment of hesitation.

"Now I hear you are looking for work… perhaps I can be of assistance?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note: There's a more detailed message at the bottom. The TLDR is: I'm going to try to update at least once a week from now on. There will be a notable drop in quality as a vomit words onto the page to meet this schedule so I apologize in advance.  
**

* * *

Electronics and dust-fueled lamps illuminate the streets of downtown Vale. The light of Remnant's broken moon pierces the darkness above. People of all shapes and sizes roam the streets below, cuddled together under the blanketing shroud of the night, blissful in their ignorance.

He lounges atop an apartment complex, gazing up into the starless night.

"Ah," the masked Naruto sighs, his haori spread out over the roof beneath him. "The moon really is pretty tonight…"

The crackle of static puts an end to his relaxation. He digs into his pocket and retrieves a handheld radio.

"Yo, there any reason we can't just use radios like normal people?"

" _Don't 'Yo' me, you little shit!"_ an angry voice snaps from the other end. _"We're right about to start! Where are you?!"_

"Mah, no need to be so angry," he drones. "Are you guys still mad I'm getting paid like nine times more than all of you? There's a reason for that, you know. You should all be happy you're even getting that. If we were getting paid in terms of usefulness, you guys wouldn't even be getting paid. At all."

" _J-just hurry up and get your ass down here! I don't know why hasn't noticed yet, but you'll be in big trouble when he does!"_

"Do you really think pumpkin-head hasn't noticed he only has you and the rest of the stooges as company? If you do, you really are complete morons." Naruto sighs.

"Alright… allow me to speak clearly so even someone like you can understand."

"This dust shop pumpkin-head wants to rob, he isn't going to sneak in or break in after closing. He's planning on walking in like he owns the place. He plans on getting the police called on him and is banking on me being there to bail him out. That's the whole reason he hired me."

"If the police get reports about me and pumpkin-head prancing down the street together, they aren't going to try bringing us in on their own. They're going to call in a bunch of really strong huntsmen to jump us together."

"Buuut, if all they see are pumpkin-head and a group of generic thugs, they won't make as big a fuss. At most they'll send out a single huntsman or huntress, one who me and pumpkin head won't have trouble dealing with together, if I can't just take them out myself."

" _Hey, you know, the way you're putting it almost makes it sound like the only reason we're here is to serve as bait."_

"Well, yeah," Naruto admits with no shame whatsoever. "So, put on a mean look and do your best~."

With that, he tosses the radio away. His gaze returns to the night and he folds his hands behind his head, staring, almost as if in a trace, at the fragments of the broken moon above.

"… So pretty…"

* * *

That disrespectful brat!

How dare he about him and his associates that way, as though they aren't even worth the air they breathe. They're human begins with hearts and souls, too!

Acting that way… kids these days have no respect.

Damn freak of nature. Demon Fox? More like demon brat.

The thug lets out a small chuckle at his own joke.

"Alright boys!" their employer, Roman Torchwick announces, a freshly lit cigar held between his lips. "Let's get this show on the road!"

It begins.

They swagger down the streets of Vale. The civilians scurry away in fear at the mere sight of them, the baddest men in Remnant, armed and ready to beat down anyone who dares to stand in their way.

At a crossroads, they find their mark, a dingy looking shop with an old sign reading 'From Dust to Dawn'. A mere glance at the building reveals a complete lack of guards or cameras or any semblance of security aside from a withered, old geezer at the counter, looking ready to keel over if you so much as breathed in his general direction.

Too easy.

A chime rings as the door opens. Crime lord, Roman Torchwick enters first and they follow soon after, their faces set in a variety of angry and menacing expressions.

It lines the windows, hangs from the walls in cylindrical tubes, fills the shelves and glimmers beneath the counter. In every color from vibrant red to pale blue to clear white, in every form from crystalline gems to silken powder, the strange substance fills the shelves of the small store.

Dust. The lifeblood of civilization.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?" Roman asks, his tone polite. Affable. Almost friendly. He speaks softly, as though he doesn't need to threaten or intimidate the old man to get what he wants.

After all, that's their job. On cue, Steve shoves a loaded gun in the old man's face.

The old man stumbles back, throwing his arms up in surrender.

"Please, just take my lein and leave!"

"Shh, shh, shhh," Roman hushes the old man. "We're not here for your lein."

"Grab the dust."

At his command, the goon squad spreads out to stuff every possible speck of dust into their pockets. A certain disgruntled thug moves to raid the stock on the shelves when the sound of music catches his attention.

He turns to find the source of the noise, wrapped up in a bright red hood with her nose buried in the pages of a weapons magazine.

The thug draws his sword with a scowl.

"Alright girlie, put your hands where I can see them!"

… Nothing.

The little girl in red doesn't even bother to look up from her magazine. Grinding this teeth together, the thug approaches the vertically-challenged girl, the ting of the demon brat's words still fresh on his mind.

"Hey, I said hands in the air! You got a death wish or something?!"

"Huh?"

A tap on the shoulder and the girl finally acknowledges his existence. She gives him a questioning look, her rose-themed headphones blasting music at deafening volumes.

Really, if he hadn't accosted her, they probably could have grabbed the dust and left and she would be none the wiser. But, for the sake of the pride trampled all over by that demon brat, this girl will just have to pay the price.

The thug gestures at his ears. The little girl removes her headphones and answers with a polite, "Yes?"

"I said, put your hands in the air!" he growls. "Now!"

"Are you… robbing me?"

"Yes!"

"Oooh…"

* * *

Of Heroes and Monsters

Chapter 2: Of Fate and Fools

* * *

The sounds of shattering glass pierce through the peaceful night, the pop and beat of some rock song he's sure he has heard somewhere before blaring out into the street.

" _This will be the day we've waited for! This will be the day we open up the door~!"_

Naruto sits up and looks in the direction of the dust shop.

"What did those idiots do now?"

Rising, he brings his hands together. His fingers form a cross-shaped seal. Aura rushes into the hand seal, more aura than the average huntsman or huntress possesses. With a pop, two more Narutos emerge from a cloud of smoke behind him, exact copies down to the mask and haori.

"That window was probably rigged with a silent alarm," the original Naruto says. "If it was, the police are already on their way. Go buy some time."

Both clones bring their hands together in a different seal and vanish from the rooftop. The original Naruto makes his way to the edge of the rooftop and looks down towards the dust shop across the street.

Her pale features seem almost to glow in the moonlight.

Deep shades of crimson highlight her shoulder-length hair, shifting from a brownish black at the roots to a dark crimson at the tips.

Her clothing follows much the same color scheme as her hair. A bright red hood hangs over a black blouse and skirt, both accented with the same bright scarlet as her hood.

Bright… silver eyes gleam with a child's innocents… yet there is something else, something perhaps buried so deep within her that the girl herself has forgotten of its existence.

A dark and troubled past, maybe? Everyone has one of those these days.

"… Is that a scythe?" Naruto asks no one in particular as the girl takes an unfolding _something_ from behind her. "Oh no… this is going to be the Dust-Candy Incident all over again, isn't it?"

His eyes do not deceive him. It is a little girl with a scythe taller than her, taller than him, no doubt seconds away from trashing the group of worthless goons.

They may look mean and scary, but those guys really are useless when it comes to fighting.

By no means is the little girl in any danger. At all. If anything, the thugs are the ones who need protecting, a notion confirmed when the little, red reaper dodges the blade of one of the thugs and plants a picture perfect drop kick into his face.

"Those idiots," Naruto shakes his head. "Bet they're the ones who threw the first punch, probably tried to rob her or something stupid like that."

Really, he ought to let chibi-red wail on the idiots as punishment for their stupidity. Then again, the particular idiot guilty of said stupidity is probably already drooling onto the floor of the dust shop.

"I can't help but feel there's something to be said about robbing old men and beating up little girls," Naruto muses. "But, considering what happened in my last job, I guess I won't complain about a gimme."

He drops onto the street from the roof. His fingers form into a hand seal, a one handed variant of the seal his clones made earlier.

Aura surges through his body, reinforcing his flesh and bone and supercharging his muscles. For an instant, his speed skyrockets and in that instant he closes the distance between himself and the young huntress(?), knocking one of the goons out of the way of her great scythe.

A hollow crack fills the air instead of the fleshy crunch of steel meeting aura and bone. Rather than the flattened form of a thug in a black suit, the shorter figure of a man in a while cloak stands underneath the sniper-scythe, holding the massive weapon back with a hand sheathed in wind.

Dark gold meet bright silver.

"Hello there," Naruto greets the wielder of the giant blade on a stick currently trying to bludgeon him into unconsciousness. "Sorry, but, as much as I'm sure they deserve it, I'm afraid I can't let you beat up on the idiots here."

"Aww, see I told you he cared about us!" one of the two remaining thugs says to the other.

"Wrong," Naruto corrects, pushing the massive scythe back.

"You morons are just slightly more useful to me awake than you are drooling into the pavement."

The girl recovers from her shock. She fires off her sniper-scythe again, unleashing a flurry of strikes, twirling the massive weapon about her body. Naruto blocks each slash with his wind-sheathed hand. He parries a swing, plants a fist into the girl's cheek and throws a wind propelled kick into her gut, sending her flying back.

She drives the blade of her scythe into the street to catch herself and levels the barrel right at his mask.

A dust round cracks through the air. Naruto blocks the shot with his palm. He blocks the next shot in the same way, and the next, and the next, and the next.

"Oi, what are you idiots doing?!" a harsh yell startles the goons. Roman Torchwick pokes his head out the shattered window and jabs a thumb back into the shop. "Quit gawking and grab the dust, you morons!"

The remaining thugs rush back into the shop for cover. Bang. Bang. Bang. Naruto lets out a yawn.

"You can't see cause of my mask, but I just yawned. You know, cause when was the last time shooting at someone ever worked? Keep it up, chibi-red, I can do this all night."

Her lips twitch. Those eerie, silver eyes narrow. She gives the sniper scythe a twirl, bending her knees and holding the weapon behind her.

"That's more like it," Naruto says. "For the record, I've only ever met two scythe-users before. And both of those scythe-users, I-"

He pauses. She charges at him with the clap of a gunshot.

"Well, they both could've kicked my ass. But that's not the point here."

He ducks under a flash of crimson. Blocks a slash at his neck with his hand and step sides an overhead slice.

"You see," he says, deflecting and parrying the sniper-scythe with the barrier of wind covering his hand.  
"While big weapons like scythes might be pretty good at mowing down hordes of mindless grimm, they generally aren't very effective against agile fighters who know how to dodge or are generally faster than you."

A jump carries him over a sweep and he flips over her, grabbing her hood and yanking it over her eyes.

"Ah-!"

He kicks the blinded girl's legs out from under her. She falls with a small cry.

"And, in case you haven't noticed, I happen to be _both_ of those things. But, I've got good news."

He looks to the shop to see Roman and the thugs still at work, gathering the dust.

Somehow, the police have yet to respond. There are no sirens and neither of his clones have popped, so he can only guess Vale's finest already have their hands full dealing with them.

"Things are going well," he says. "And seeing as how that's not exactly the norm for me, I'm in a pretty good mood."

"So I'm willing to share some of good fortune."

"Get out of here, chibi-red," Naruto says, adjusting his mask, stepping around the prone scythe-user. "I imagine this isn't exactly how you were planning on spending your night, wrong time, wrong place, and all that jazz. It sucks, believe me, I get it, I really do."

"How dare these lemmings interrupt you when you're just trying to go for a late night walk, or assassinate a high-profile target or restock on dust," he clenches his fist and shakes his head. "Some people just don't know their place and it's up to people like us to show them just where they stand on the totem pole, right."

"N-not really, wait, what was that second one again?"

"Not important," he waves his hand.

"The point is, I understand," he says, placing a hand on his chest. "You're filled with this, burning, passionate desire to make sweet love to their skulls with the business end of your scythe. But, unfortunately, I'm getting paid to not let you do that. So, how about I promise to treat each of the morons to a nice knuckle-sandwich and you go home-"

"Wait, wait, wait, waiiiit!" the girl gets to her feet, holding her scythe out as though it were a charm to ward off some demon. "That's not why I was fighting those guys! I mean, yeah they tried to mug me, but that's not why!"

"It's not? Why haven't you left yet, then? Does the grandpa owe you money or something?"

"What?! No!"

"You here to get the bounty on pumpkin head's head?"

"No!"

"Oh, you're here for mine? Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone tried to kill me on the job but don't you think you're a bit in over your head? I'm actually kind of offended-"

"No! No! No!" the girl yells, punctuating each no with a swing of her scythe. "It's none of those! What is wrong with you?!"

"Then… why…" Naruto trails off as a thought occurs to him. "Oh… oh no."

"It's because-!"

"-what you're doing is 'wrong'," he says at the same time as the girl.

Sigh.

"Alright, so that's how it is. No point in wasting my breath, then."

He holds up a hand. Shadow and flame form into a sphere of flickering yellow with a core of pitch black. His eyes flicker with intent. A tail of yellow aura emerges from under his haori.

"I suppose if you lead a horse to water and it won't drink, all that's left is to drown it."

"That's not how that saying goes!"

He fires off the aura bullet and takes off with a burst of wind and aura.

She shoots herself into the air to dodge the explosion. A flash of yellow smashes into her, sending her careening over the street. Another blast of wind sends him flying after her.

She catches herself by stabbing the blade of her weapon into the pavement. Before she can remove the blade from the pavement, two feet slam into the barrel with a thunderous clap of wind, driving the blade all the way into the street.

A blur of yellow stabs at her face.

It stops centimeters from her eye.

"And, you're done," Naruto says, drawing back his tail. He steps one foot off the buried scythe. "A little girl with no weapon to defend herself with has no place here. Shoo now. Go on, get out of here."

Said little girl looks from him to her weapon in panic. She tugs and pulls, finding the blade well and truly stuck under his foot. Then, she throws a kick in desperation.

"Hya-! ah?"

Naruto catches her leg with ease.

He levels a blank stare at the girl, at her combat skirt and at that which is revealed by her compromising position and those abilities of his suited more towards catering humanity's darker desires.

"Cute wolfie."

"Wolfie?"

His tail points under her skirt. A blush spreads over her pale features.

"What! You can see that?!"

"Well, you are flashing me everything. Probably not the best idea to be kicking people in a skirt."

"It's a combat skir- aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Naruto throws the girl into the air. His tail wraps around her body, binding her arms and winding into a length of chain. She falls and he severs the chain at his hip, kicking her to the side like a big, red, soccer ball.

Next he removes his foot, releases the aura locking the sniper-scythe to the street, and frees the scythe blade with a good yank.

"That takes care of that, I suppose," he says, resting the sniper-scythe on his shoulder. "Wonder what's taking pumpkin head and the goon squad so long?"

"Uh, hey boss, how come this tube isn't going back in the case?"

"That's because YOU'RE PUTTING IT IN THE WRONG WAY! UGH! Fox boy, could you give me a hand, here?!"

Naruto face palms. He makes his way over to the dust shop.

"You hold this."

He takes the case of dust, giving his employer a skeptic look. "As much as I enjoy having my hands on enough dust to burn a small city to the ground, I have to ask why _I'm_ the one carrying this."

"Because there's no way I'm letting those idiots hang onto it," Roman sneers. "This is powdered dust. It's so volatile that even a sneeze could set it off."

"There's no way anyone's _actually_ dumb enough to sneeze straight into a cloud of dust. That'd be like throwing a lit match into an oil vat."

"You'd be surprised."

"Whatever you say, pumpkin head."

Roman gives his shorter associate a small glare. "Your nicknaming habits aside…"

He turns to the girl with the red hood, trying to free herself.

"Would you care to explain to me why you haven't turned little, red, riding hood here into a little, red smear? I'm not overly fond of having to clean up after other people's messes."

He levels his cane at the girl, an aiming reticle popping out from the butt of the shaft. The sight lines up straight at the bound girl's head.

"Do as you wish," Naruto shrugs. "Just so you know, my contract ends as soon as we get out of here. Don't go crying to me when papa wolf comes to shove your cane up your ass."

Roman answers with a roll of his eyes. He fires off a flare, the projectile shrieking through the air at the little girl.

A figure drops from the sky, landing between the girl and the explosive, blocking the flare with a barrier of glowing purple seals.

Pale blond hair, styled into a bun. Frigid green eyes with a glare sharper than daggers. Not a single speck of dust dirties her form, from her white blouse to her black pencil skirt, a devil-tailed cape swaying behind her. The huntress glares at him as though he is nothing more than a bug and the only reason she has yet to step on him is because it isn't worth the effort of cleaning him off her shoe.

Wait a second. She's not looking at him.

"Oh hey, it's Glynda! Hi Glynda! It's been a while, hasn't it?! You still mad about the thing with the ramen?!"

A flick of her riding crop sends the masked Naruto into a building.

"Worth every cent, truly you were," Roman drawls at the smoking hole in the wall.

He fires off a barrage of flares at the huntress. She holds up a hand and the flares slow to a stop mid-air. A clench of her fist causes the flares to fuse together, glimmering red and violet coming together into a simmering orb of purplish crimson.

Roman impotently lowers his cane.

"I... saw that going differently in my mind."

The orb flies back at Roman and the thugs. A blast of lightning intercepts the orb, a thunderous explosion rocking the street. A figure steps out onto the street, six, empty, dust containers clattering to the ground.

"You know, a simple 'yes', or a 'no', or a 'go die' would have sufficed."

Six spheres of light hover in a halo above his bare palm. Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Violet. The orbs coalesce into a single bubble of light and sink into his hand, a white circle appearing on the center of his palm.

He clenches his fist. An explosion of gold blows away the smoke to reveal the masked Naruto, three tails of burning shadow behind him. The tattered remains of his haori fall to his feet, revealing an emblem sewn onto his right shoulder and back. Burnt orange threads form six petals, encircling a set of nine, concentric circles.

Ghostly flames flicker along the length of the sniper-scythe.

"Hey, pumpkin head," Naruto calls out behind him to Roman. "I'll hold her off. This is a fight I don't think I can win, but I should at least be able to buy some time for you guys to get out of here."

"Quite the hyper-competent sidekick, aren't you?" Roman says. "Do try to get in contact if you manage to avoid getting put behind bars. I happen to know of someone who would be more than appreciative of your skills and talents."

"It'll consider it," Naruto says. Glynda draws back her arm. "Now go!"

Roman takes off, the thugs bustling behind him.

A salvo of violet lights shoots through the street at the fleeing crime lord. Naruto leaps between his employer and the witch, the circle on his palm pulsing orange. He slams his hand onto the street, a wall of earth jaunting up from the pavement in front of him. The volley of aura explodes against the stone wall, kicking up dust and causing heavy cracks to appear in the stone.

Twirling the sniper-scythe, Naruto leaps onto the top of the wall, points the muzzle behind him and presses the trigger.

The crack of a gunshot shoots him forward. The circle on his palm pulses green and he flips, accelerating with a blast of wind, rocketing across the street.

Another barrier of purple runes forms in his path of flight. His tails come together into the form of a massive, three-fingered claw, piercing into the street and catching him before he crashes into the witch's guard. The circle on his palm pulses yellow. He slams a hand onto the street, fangs of lightning ripping through the ground and traveling under the violet barrier.

A blast of telekinetic force shatters the street and disperses the lightning. The pieces of shattered street light up with a purple glow, changing direction mid fall and combining into the form of a massive spear of pavement.

The spear shoots at him with a furious spin. Wind spirals and condenses around the sniper-scythe. With a click of the trigger, the sniper-scythe cracks forward, smashing the giant, stone spear with an eruption of air. The pieces of pavement scatter around him before again coming alight with a violet glow.

They reform into a legion of smaller spears, stabbing at him from every angle. The sniper-scythe whirls, his tails lashing at the flying spears. Yet they reform almost as fast, if not faster than he can destroy them, one spear finding its mark and burying into his arm.

The circle on his hand flashes red.

Wind spirals around him, a ball of fire forming in his palm. The wind feeds into the fire and he launches a wall of flame at the witch. It dissipates against another purple barrier but it serves its purpose. The swarm of spears weakens for only a moment, just long enough for him to escape.

He holds the sniper scythe behind him and presses the trigger.

A loud bang shoots him forward, only a few feet away from the witch. He lunges forward, sniper-scythe flashing in a crimson arc. Glynda merely holds out her riding crop, purple symbols and seals forming into yet another barrier. The scythe blade scrapes against the aura wall and he continues his rotation, tails slipping under the barrier and striking at her from behind her defense.

He forces her back, forces her to drop her barrier, and he steps again, transitioning seamlessly between swings of the sniper-scythe and strikes of his tails. However, none of his attacks come anywhere close to landing. Glynda weaves through his attacks with ease, pushing each of his swings and slashes away with her semblance.

She flips back over a sweep of his tail, flicking her riding crop. Two, massive slabs of pavement rip themselves from the street, closing in on him from both sides. The circle on his hand flashes blue and a wall of water swirls to life around him, smashing both slabs into pieces. Those pieces begin to fall before stopping, coming alight with a violet glow.

A purple seal appears beneath his feet and the pebbles of asphalt begin to circle around him, spinning faster and faster until a harsh storm entraps him, wind and shards of asphalt slicing into him.

"Like hell are you beating me," he snarls, crossing his arms, wrapping his tails protectively around himself. The circle on his palm pulses green. A thick barrier of air surrounds him, the winds gathering into a current in the opposite direction of the tornado imprisoning him. "With my own element!"

Uncrossing his arms, he releases the compressed storm with a roar. The tornado disappears, only for another invisible blast to slam into his chest the instant the wall of wind dissipates. He flies back, slamming into the crumbling remains of the earthen barrier he himself created.

It then collapses on him, burying him under a pile of dirt and pavement.

For a moment he lays there, the earth cool against his cuts and scrapes.

Really.

 _Really._

Glynda Goodwitch. The Sorceress of Vale. Ozpin's Right Hand and one of the few people in Remnant who can walk all over him in a fight. If he hadn't gotten that dust from pumpkin head before she arrived, he'd have already lost.

Stupid, friggin, telekinesis. What an overpowered semblance.

"What have I gotten myself into this time…?" Naruto mutters, rising out of the pile of rubble. "Really, I must have pissed off some god or goddess in another life because this level of bad luck is fu-"

"Do not make this any more difficult than it needs to be." Her voice echoes across the street. Glynda draws back her wand. "Surrender and come quietly."

"Screw off, you old hag! I got away from you once and I can do it again!"

He lets out a heavy sigh.

"But I can't do that until pumpkin head and the goon squad gets out of here," he grumbles. "Now, how am I going to do this…?"

He can't keep up with her in a long-ranged battle.

Getting in close, where her telekinesis is at its strongest, isn't an option either. At this rate, she'll just wear him down. Even if the others get away, he'll be trapped and he has no intention of dying here or spending the rest of forever in a cell.

Something flickers inside him, like a burning coal settling in the pit of his stomach.

 **(.. … … ….)**

His bloo **d** b **o** ils. His soul bur **n** s red h **ot**. F **l** ittering shadows b **e** gin **t** o cloud his senses. **T** he bitter taste of as **h** fills th **e** back of his **m** outh.

 **(….. …)**

As much as h **e** 'd **ra** ther not do **s** omething lik **e** this in the middle of a crowded city… He is all o **u** t of other option **s**.

He reaches out to the other three pieces of himself, spread throughout the city. His two clones. The chain… binding…

Wait a second.

"Where'd she go?" Naruto asks, noticing a distinct lack of red behind the witch.

Glynda's eyes flick behind her, widening at the disappearance of the girl in the red hood. Her gaze darts around the street, focusing on something behind him-

Behind.

 **(…. …)**

It happens almost in slow motion. A shadow falls over him. He turns, the smo **K** e, ash, and adrenal **I** ne rushing through his veins urging him to fol **L** ow his first instinct and s **L** ice whatever it is attacking him to ribbons. Wind wraps around the scythe blade. **H** is tails thin into three razo **R** sharp blades.

His finger freezes on the sniper-scythe's trigger.

The red-hooded panty flasher rewards his mercy with yet another flash, followed by a stomp to the face.

"Bluh-!"

He stumbles, almost falling. A tail stabs into the pavement to catch him and she pushes off, landing across from him with a flip, her arms still bound by a length of gold chain. When he lifts his head, her eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"You're my age!" she gasps.

"Somehow I doubt that," he groans, cradling his face.

Hmm? His voice…

Dark gold and bright silver stare at one another. A blink. His hand darts back to his face, clutching at his cheeks, feeling soft flesh instead of smooth bone.

"Oh crap, my mask!"

He finds his mask to the side, resting against the pavement. A quick mental command and the mask breaks apart into motes of flittering yellow, rematerializing back onto his face.

"Alright, you managed to land a hit on me; I'll give you that, even if it was the _only_ armored part of my body…" Naruto says, mumbling the last part.

"Stay out of this. Or don't. Actually go ahead and keep trying to attack me, you'll make a great meat shield."

"… You know, you're a lot less scary now that I know what you look like under there."

"Right back at you wolfie. Those panties really don't match the whole 'red and black' theme you got going on there."

"Wha-!" she blushes all the way to her ears. "Quit peeking up my skirt, you pervert!"

"Pervert?!" he blanches. The word pierces him like a blade. He can _feel_ the witch's glare on his back, judging and condemning him.

"Who's a pervert?! You're the one who keeps flashing me! What do you expect me to do when you go kicking at me with a skirt?! Blush like some harem protagonist and close my eyes?! Screw that! If you don't want me to see them then don't drop kick me in a skirt!"

Naruto takes a deep breath to collect himself. He blinks. "Well, that completely killed the mood."

He flips into the air to dodge a barrage of violet aura, rappelling onto a nearby building with his tails.

"What was I thinking again?"

The hum of a bullhead's engines reaches his ears. He turns to see a bullhead emerge from out behind a building, one of his clones waving at him from next to a head of orange hair.

"And that's my cue to get out of here," he mutters. Hostile intent flares behind him and he jumps again as a barrage of purple lights smash into the building where he was perched. He tumbles onto the street, planting his weapon to stop his roll. His tails lash out, smashing the falling debris and rubble to dust.

"I'd like to say it's been fun, but really, can't I just get one job that doesn't blow up like a jar of powdered dust?"

"White-Faced, Gold-Tailed, Demon Fox."

Glynda's voice cracks like a whip. She raises her riding crop and narrows her eyes. The air grows thick with intent.

"Arson. Murder. Theft. Kidnapping. Sexual harassment. For the past six years, you have been an unforgivably annoying scourge on these lands," she declares.

"One of those isn't quite like the others…"

She closes her eyes, an expression of immense frustration and immeasurable irritation gracing her features. "Yet the powers that be have allowed you to run free, citing more pressing concerns."

"But, no more," she declares, piercing into him with a gaze like ice. "This is as far as you go."

"As you said, you have eluded me once. It will _not_ happen again."

She flings a pale blue dust crystal into the sky. A giant ring of purple runes appears above him and the crystal shatters, forming a layer of rumbling cloud.

"… That doesn't look good."

The huntress drops her arm like an executioner bringing down their axe.

A flash of light shoots down from the cloud. He deflects it with a flick of a tail and a shard of ice twice the size of his forearm buries itself into the pavement. A second one follows, then a third and a fourth until the ice shards fall like rain during a thunderstorm.

Crimson and gold flash through the air. The sniper-scythe and his tails smash the shards to pieces with a single swing but they are innumerable, falling on him with no reprieve. They slice into his arms and his legs, his defense preventing any direct hits at the cost of littering him with cuts.

The ice storm pins him. The sounds of sirens appear in the distance. Time's up. He needs to get out of here, _now._

Wind swirls. His aura flares, a pulse of flaming gold erupting from around him. The shards of ice shatter and melt against the golden aura, his wounds closing as the circle on his palm flashes orange, then blue, before settling into an oaky brown.

"You really are too strong," he pants, his tails fizzling out behind him. "That's a veteran huntress for you. As much as I don't like doing something like this, I really am all out of options..."

Glynda narrows her eyes. The girl in the red hood glances between him, the huntress and the ruin that was once a pristine street. Both females watch him, waiting for whatever final, desperation attack he has in store.

"Bye!"

He promptly turns tail and takes off down the street, the sniper-scythe still in hand.

"Ah, Crescent Rose!"

* * *

He stumbles through a back ally way, leaning on the wall for support. Deep bags hang under dark blue eyes. His chest heaves. A bead of sweat rolls down his whiskered cheeks. Carefully, he navigates the trash and discarded foodstuffs that litters the street, making sure not to step in anything that will smell later.

"Those crazy ladies… chased me through half the damn city…"

An influx of memories hits him, informing him of his clone's untimely demise at the hands of wolfie and the witch, the red-hooded panty flasher yelling something about a 'crescent rose' or something.

An orange tracksuit with black highlights, decorated with blood red spirals, replaces the white and dark blue of his 'work' clothes. A knapsack hangs over his shoulder, heavy with the weight of his sole, earthly possessions and the compact form of the panty flasher's sniper-scythe.

Maybe he can sell it.

"Got to lay low for a bit… since the girl saw my face… ugh."

He stops to steady himself. He looks behind him, back at the city, seeing the aftermath of the power he used to distract the two females long enough for him to meet up with and switch with his clone. Massive overgrowths of trees peek out from behind corners of buildings. They'll rot and fade by the next day, but that's one of the many reasons he hates using _that_ particular power, even when he has the dust to help him.

He can't control it and it draws far more attention than someone like him can afford. Also it drains the life right out of him. Literally.

With heavy steps, he makes his way to one of the only places to get food this late at night. He shambles into a bar, plopping his face onto the counter. His knapsack hits the floor with a thud. The bartender, a middle-aged man with a head of brown hair, makes his way over with a frown.

"Sorry kid, we don't serve minors after dark. You got an id?"

Something between a grunt and a groan comes from the mop of white hair. He reaches into his pocket, throwing a stack of lein onto the counter. The bartender eyes the lein with a twinkle of greed but still shakes his head.

"Nice try but the answer's still no. No kids under sixteen without adult supervision after ten."

"He is with me," a voice comes from behind him.

"Hey, we don't allow outside beverages in here… wait. You, you're-!"

"My apologies. We'll have an extra-large miso ramen. And a cup of your finest blend."

The owner of the stoic and polite voice takes a seat next to him. The bartender scurries off to fire up the cooker.

"Long day?"

"Something like that," Naruto groans, turning his head to get a look at his mysterious benefactor. "I don't know who you are but tha-"

Blue eyes meet brown. In that instant, understanding dawns on him over the panicked reaction of the bartender. He then rolls his face back onto the counter, attempting to become one with the bar.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

The man clad in green and black takes a sip of his coffee.

"Is something wrong?" he asks.

"Nope!" Naruto shoots up in his seat with a smile full of teeth. "Nothing is wrong! Absolutely nothing is wrong! Everything is perfect! You're Ozpin, right? Ozpin, the Great and the Terrible, headmaster of Beacon Academy, right? The name's Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet ya!"

"Indeed," his outburst fails to phase the most powerful man in Vale at all, Ozpin remaining as expressionless as a hunk of wood. "Naruto… Uzumaki. That name. You are from the Elemental Isles, are you not?"

"Yeah! How'd you know?!"

"I was acquainted with a man from the Elemental Isles about twenty years ago, in the closing days of the Third Great War," Ozpin says, resting his mug on the counter. "Somehow our conversation that day led to the topic of how differently we named the children in our respective homelands. Much like how we name our children after colors to celebrate individuality in the Kingdoms, he told me that in the Elemental Nations, they use words from the language of their ancestors as names to remember the mistakes of the past. Before he returned to his homeland, he taught me a few words from the language."

"If I am not mistaken, your name means 'Maelstrom Spiral'," he says, glancing at the spiral sewn onto Naruto's shoulder. "A very apt description, if I do say so myself."

Naruto blinks. "Huh… didn't know that."

"The meaning of your name?"

"Everything you just said."

"Ah."

He takes a deep breath. Even though he's never really worn the mask to hide his identity, it has had the fortunate side effect of allowing him to mingle in a crowd. Aside from his white hair, nothing else is really there to expose him. Just because that girl saw his face, it doesn't mean this man will know who he is.

This has to be a coincidence. A very, very, _very_ impossible coincidence.

The bartender arrives with a cup of freshly brewed coffee and a bowl of ramen. Naruto breaks a pair of chopsticks and digs in while Ozpin takes a sip of the coffee. "Tell me, what is someone your age doing out this late at night? Haven't you heard the commotion?"

"Ommuhsion?" Naruto slurps up the noodles, clearing his throat. "What do you mean?"

"The White-Faced, Gold-Tailed, Demon Fox has appeared in this city."

Naruto freezes. The moment passes and he continues eating his foot at a much more sedate pace. "Is that what everyone was freaking out about earlier? What'd that guy do this time?"

"Obstruction of justice. After a robbery gone wrong, he fought an experienced huntress to a standstill to allow his associate to escape."

"Really? He must be pretty strong then."

"He is," Ozpin says. A glimmer of… something appears in those dull brown eyes. Maybe curiosity. Maybe suspicion. "It's enough to make you wonder. Why would such a capable young man choose to lead a life of crime?"

"Maybe he's just an asshole."

"That is certainly what most mainstream media seems to think," Ozpin admits. "However, I believe there may be more to his story."

He focuses on the TV screen above the bar, showing the image of a figure in white and black, fighting a huntress garbed in black, white, and purple. "The circumstances over his sudden appearance are almost as mysterious and enigmatic as he is. No one really knows much about him… apart from his penchant for troublemaking and sexual deviancy."

Naruto's eye twitches. "Is that so…"

"It's enough to make one question why someone like this 'Demon Fox' would choose to live the way he does."

The bar falls silent aside from the noise from the television. Naruto finishes his ramen without saying a word, stirring the leftover soup and watching the spices and bits and pieces swirl at the bottom of the bowl.

"The paths we find ourselves on are paved by the consequences of our actions. That much is true, but…"

His lips thin into a thoughtful frown.

"Sometimes because of friends or family or a lack thereof, some people will find themselves doing things they regret. They fall into this bottomless abyss where the only way to survive is to become like the things that dragged them down there in the first place."

His eyes go unfocused, almost as though he sees something else in that bowl of swirling broth.

"Some choose to die clinging to their ideals. Some are rescued by those around them. But the others…"

He lifts the bowl to his lips and downs the bowl in one go, smiling a rueful smile.

"Nobody to save them and too selfish to drown, they become the very same as the monsters that created them."

"I see," Ozpin finishes his coffee. He places the empty cup onto the counter. "Let us stop beating around the bush. I know who you are… and you know who I am."

Naruto's hand twitches towards his knapsack. Aura leaks through the seal on his stomach, his already exhausted body aching in protest. This is a fight he knows he can't win… but like hell he won't go down fighting.

"Tell me, Naruto…"

His muscles tense. With the back of his foot, he tosses his knapsack into the air-!

"… Would you like to come to my school?"

"… Eh?"

* * *

 **Longer Authors Note:**

 **Wow I suck. Three months for a single update? And to think I planned to release the second chapter before the first episode of RWBY vol 4 came out.**

 **Well, as my English Professor once told me, 'writing is never done, it's just due.' Just to give you all, my unfortunate readers, an idea of how bad I am about that kind of thing, this story is a rewrite of the Of Ramen, Puke and Cookies story I put out almost one year ago.**

 **Left to my own devices, I'd probably spend another five months on chapter three so I've made a new year's resolution to update at least once every week. I've updated chapter one a bit so that'll just have to count for week 1( linebreak formatting please. I'll probably do another, big update later).**

 **That being said, there will be a notable drop in the quality of my writing as I attempt to vomit words onto the page to meet this schedule. I could also use an editor if anyone is up to the task of helping me keep an eye out for grammar issues or telling me an idea is stupid and not to do it. Just spend me a pm.**

 **Thanks for reading.**


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